NXT Fusion: Excuse Me!

The 7th September 2010 episode of NXT and the first of Season 3 starts out after the titles roll (which has a new theme: “You Make The Rain Fall” by Kevin Rudolph) with the Pros and their Rookie Divas being introduced, with Vickie Guerrero’s new Rookie (as she fired her former Rookie Aloisia) being revealed as Kaitlyn.

Matt Striker talks about what things are expected from the Divas and will happen during the Season, mentioning that the first elimination will take place in four weeks, before the Rookie Divas introduce themselves to the WWE Universe.

First up is Kaitlyn, initially getting a positive reaction but which worsens the more she talks, with Vickie making her do it again when she’s done. Second is Goldust’s Rookie Aksana who “loves Double-Double-Ee”, followed by Alicia Fox’s Rookie Maxine who proclaims herself as a “Triple Threat in a skirt.”

Next to take the microphone is Primo’s Rookie A.J who it seems is the target of Michael Cole’s ire this Season, as Daniel Bryan and Kaval were for the previous two. Jamie Keyes’ turn and she’s strong on the microphone, no doubt helped very much by her previous announcing experience on NXT.

Finally, it’s the turn of Kelly Kelly’s Rookie Diva Naomi, giving an energetic hello and saying that as actions speak louder than words, she’s not going to talk about what she can do and has accomplished, as when it is all said and done she knows her actions will prove exactly why she is NXT Season 3’s next breakout star.

Striker informs everyone that the Rookie who wins the most challenges within the next few weeks will gain immunity from the first elimination, and our first challenge is now and will be a Divas Dance Challenge, with the live crowd in Baltimore being the judges.

Naomi is first up, with Striker commenting that she needs somebody to dance with, introducing Cole who is wearing leg warmers and ballet slippers, after they have danced, it’s Jamie’s turn whose enthusiasm when dancing with Cole doesn’t seem to appeal to the crowd.

Cole looks tired according to Striker, so now it’s A.J’s turn to dance, her partner will be Ring Announcer Tony Chimel, that dance ending with Striker quipping that Chimel is the next breakout Diva.

After Maxine’s dance with Chimel, Striker says that he appears to be sweating, so it’s Josh Mathews’ turn to be a partner, this time for Aksana, which Striker quips is like a bad bar mitzva, after which he ends with him and Kaitlyn.

Time to find out who the crowd preferred and Naomi gets a pretty good reaction, Jamie gets mostly boos, A.J gets a good reaction, Maxine a few boos, Aksana mostly boos, and Kaitlyn a bit of a better reaction than Aksana – so Naomi is the winner, which Cole takes credit for.

Next up is a Divas Tag Team match pitting Alicia Fox and Maxine against Kelly Kelly and Naomi, with Naomi getting the win for her team, though the ending does appear confusing as it seems that Kelly is late getting into the ring to make sure that Alicia doesn’t break up the pin, and then the Rookies don’t seem to realise until the referee tells them that the match has ended as there was a three count.

Now it’s time for a Capture The Flag Challenge, which Naomi also ends up winning. Afterwards, Striker asks her what’s going through her mind and after catching her breath, she says that she thinks that her athleticism is an advantage over the other girls, but that there’s still a long way to go.

After promotion for “Legendary” starring John Cena opening on Friday at selected theatres and then hype for the matches to take place at Night Of Champions, including the match agreed to on Raw between The Miz and Daniel Bryan (click here for our Raw report), we see a video on Jamie Keyes with her talking about herself.

Next, Goldust and Aksana take on Primo and A.J in a Mixed Tag Team match, which A.J wins after hitting a bulldog for the 3-count. Before she can celebrate, Vickie comes out with an unhappy-looking Kaitlyn, asking everyone to excuse her and let her Rookie try her introduction one more time.

After Primo defends A.J and says that it’s her moment, Vickie says that unlike him, she’s used to living with success, and after A.J tells her to go away, Vickie directs Kaitlyn to “sick her”, which after a moment of confusion she does but has it reversed and is pushed into Vickie, knocking her down.

Vickie seems to have a temper tantrum at what has just occurred and storms up the ramp, with Kaitlyn following with apologies as NXT goes off the air.